Brahim's plots new diversification course and away from MAS

Although Brahim's Holdings Bhd is a major supplier of meals for Malaysia Airlines (MAS), credit must be given to the in-flight caterer for the painstaking efforts to diversify its earnings base over the long term.

Besides supplying meals to 30 other airlines and its RM95 million acquisition of the Burger King business in Malaysia and Singapore, the company is now in the process of supplying halal food for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

It started the ball rolling by penetrating Japan via the export of food products and forging alliances with local departmental stores to showcase its wide range of halal products.

As far as Japan is concerned, it wants to be a Muslim-friendly country by making available halal food extensively at the Tokyo Olympics, for which Brahim's is well positioned to be an excellent partner.

At the Games, some 35 percent of the athletes are expected to be Muslims.

At the previous Olympics held in London in 2012, there were more than 3,000 Muslim athletes and officials attending.

With the current number of Muslim tourists visiting Japan mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia, Tokyo sees increasing requests for halal meals and prayer rooms.

Those pointing fingers at Brahim's for depending only on MAS, must not lose sight of the fact that the company is also the major food caterer for the Jordanian military, to the tune of supplying 500,000 ration packs.

The tie-up with the Jordanian army also sets the stage for a wider role in the Arab world.

This is evident by the contract to supply a minimum 10-12 million meals annually to pilgrims in Mecca by 2016.

The company has even gone a step further by introducing special dish-washing machines which incorporates Islamic "samak" or the cleansing of cooking utensils according to Islamic rites.

It is extending this "expertise" to the 30 foreign airlines business partners.

Just recently, Brahim's entered into a memorandum of understanding to take a major equity in an abattoir in Australia to supply halal beef.

The foray into Japan is vital as it is a potentially huge market, especially with the upcoming Olympic Games, which looks to be launching pad for Brahim's penetration into that country in a significant manner.

The acquisition of 54 Burger King outlets in Malaysia and 41 in Singapore is set to contribute RM300 million to the company's annual turnover and again, reinforcing its zest to diversify away from MAS.

Taking all these measures into account, there is no doubt that Brahim's is moving in the right direction, in emerging as a global halal meals provider and in the process reinforcing Malaysia's strategic role in the global halal market.

Once all this comes to fruition, the company's dependency on MAS will be narrowed to just 50 percent in terms of earnings and put to rest accusations that it was cannibalising MAS.